Several recent reports claimed that actor Manoj Bajpayee’s net worth is close to Rs. 170 crores, crediting his success with web projects The Family Man and Gulmohar. However, the actor laughs off such claims, stating. “Making that sort of money is impossible with the kind of work that I do, and be part of films such as Aligarh (2015) and Bhonsle (2018). I am still struggling to get some money into my kitty. Now, after reading these reports, I just hope that the producers will finally raise my salary.” 

Sharing his first reaction on reading such reports, the 54-year-old confesses he had a good laugh. “And then I thought to myself, ‘Kaash aish ho jaata’... At least, I could take off to some faraway place and be easy in life,” he quips.

Ask Bajpayee about the times when an actor is gravitated towards projects which mean big bucks, and he asserts that such thoughts never cross his mind. “That’s because I can’t do it. That’s not my personality. I can’t work only for money... for me, craft matters,” he says.

In fact, Bajpayee admits that over the years, he has learnt to detach himself from the idea of success, failure and rejection. “Now, I feel happy looking at the faces of my team. Like now, after the response we got for Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai, I look at the face of my of my director and producer, and feel content with what we achieved as a team. I do celebrate milestones, but after that, it’ll be a new day, new film and new challenge that we have to accomplish,” he ends.